Helmut Lang’s exhibition in Vienna makes history The archive has never been more alive
The exhibition Helmut Lang. Séance de travail 1986–2005, on view until May 3 at the MAK in Vienna, tells the full complexity of the fashion designer’s work. In a dizzying dance of inputs, framed by an incredible exhibition design that succeeds in conveying the all-encompassing aesthetic of the Austrian designer, the process of a creator who always took care of every smallest detail of his visual identity is expressed at its best - from the choice of architect for his stores to the backstage, from fashion shows to relationships with artists and journalists.
Telling the archive
Helmut Lang had donated the entire archive of his brand to the MAK as early as 2011; as a result, the museum preserves more than 10,000 original pieces among fragments and important objects, such as the banner with the logo placed by the designer on a thousand New York taxis in 1998. The item, which revolutionized the narrative and branding of fashion, represented a radical shift in luxury fashion, which is why it was chosen as the image for the exhibition poster.
In the first rooms of the MAK exhibition dedicated to Lang, a video shows the news broadcast by CNN in 2005, «Helmut Lang leaves Prada: Designer steps down from brand that bears his name,» marking the creative’s farewell to his brand after its acquisition by the Prada Group. Placing these images at the beginning of the exhibition is a powerful act, not only recalling how fashion news once made it onto the evening news, but also - perhaps - assigning blame for the end of the designer’s story.
Fashion as an interdisciplinary space
Curated by Marlies Wirth, the exhibition is divided into Identity; Space; Séance de travail; Media & cultural presence; Artistic collaborations and Backstage. In the Identity section, the relationship with art and architecture takes center stage, showing how it was not the creator’s egocentrism that ruled Helmut Lang’s work, but the attention he devoted to collaborations. The New York flagships, including one dedicated solely to fragrance (2001), were developed together with the Gluckman Mayner Architects studio, which would go on to oversee all stores from 1997 onward.
Just consider that the Helmut Lang store dedicated to fragrance was formerly the gallery space of the legendary Leo Castelli - to whom we owe the invention of Pop Art as a movement - or that the first 1997 flagship hosted site-specific works by artists of the caliber of Louise Bourgeois, whose works appeared in the windows and interior spaces, or Jenny Holzer, a collaborator who worked extensively with Lang starting with the Florence Biennale in 1996.
@chez.amelie thank you @MAK vienna original sound - zz
Beyond the central room dedicated to runway shows with an extremely pleasing aesthetic, what we absolutely want to highlight in this exhibition is the section devoted to the backstage. Backstage videos showing the grueling work of makeup artists alternate with epic exclusive accessories for presentations, even though the most striking element is a very extensive series of Polaroids capturing the details of every look.
This complex world, made up of incredible details and extremely tight timelines, is best represented in a visual journey that offers the chance to discover the full complexity of the fashion machine in its most hidden forms. It shows those unfamiliar with it the dynamics of the backstage, the hidden passages, and all the preliminary study behind a show that lasts only half an hour but is prepared for months. Certainly, having access to such a vast archive has been an incredible and wonderful advantage for the MAK, but it remains a rare gem in the fragmented world of fashion exhibitions. The exhibition is a temporary temple raised to Lang, a physical immersive space in which to learn more about a visionary who marked our era.
